Spacecraft to swing by Earth, moon on path to Jupiter
Saturday, 27 July 2024 08:22A spacecraft launched last year will slingshot back around Earth and the moon next month in a high-stakes, world-first maneuver as it pinballs its way through the solar system to Jupiter.
The European Space Agency's Juice probe blasted off in April 2023 on a mission to discover whether Jupiter's icy moons Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa are capable of hosting extra-terrestrial life in their vast, hidden oceans.
The uncrewed six-tonne spacecraft is currently 10 million kilometers (six million miles) from Earth.
But it will fly back past the moon and then Earth on August 19-20, using their gravity boosts to save fuel on its winding, eight-year odyssey to Jupiter.
Staff at the ESA's space operations center in Darmstadt, Germany began preparing for the complicated maneuver this week.
Gilmour Space to Start Hypersonic Flight Tests in 2025
Friday, 26 July 2024 21:58Gilmour Space Technologies, an Australian launch services company, has announced a new suborbital flight test service targeted at commercial and defense customers needing hypersonic speeds above Mach 5. "We've witnessed a surge in the research and development of hypersonic vehicles, materials, and other related technologies in recent years, especially since AUKUS (a trilateral security par
SpaceX cleared to launch Falcon 9 rocket again
Friday, 26 July 2024 21:58SpaceX's stalwart Falcon 9 rocket has been cleared for launch after experiencing a rare failure earlier this month, officials said Thursday. The rocket, a prolific launch vehicle that propels both satellites and astronauts into orbit, experienced an anomaly during a launch on July 11 in its second stage booster that meant it failed to deploy 20 Starlink satellites at a high enough altitude,
NASA continues to delay return of Boeing Starliner, astronauts from ISS
Friday, 26 July 2024 21:58There still is no return date set for the Starliner astronauts aboard the International Space Station, officials with NASA and Boeing said Thursday. NASA Commercial Crew Program Manager Steve Stich in a conference call Thursday morning said the agency has made significant progress in assessing the Starliner's return capability but there is no official plan to bring the astronauts home.
Star Catcher Secures $12.25M Seed Funding to Revolutionize Space Energy
Friday, 26 July 2024 21:58Star Catcher Industries, Inc. ("Star Catcher"), a leader in space-based energy generation, has successfully closed a $12.25 million seed funding round. The funding round was co-led by Initialized Capital and B Capital, with significant participation from Rogue VC. This investment will enable the company to build the Star Catcher Network, the world's first space-based energy grid, aimed at elimin
From Garuda to Pioneering Nepal's Space-Tech Industry
Friday, 26 July 2024 21:58In the Himalayan nation of Nepal, two innovators, Mohan Tamang and Akrit Dhungel, are making history with Mach24Orbitals, the country's first space-tech startup. Previously, Dhungel and Tamang led the Garuda project, which launched Nepal's first rocket on March 20, 2021. This project earned the Nancy Squires Team Spirit Award at the Spaceport America Cup 2021. Using potassium nitrate and s
UAH TERMINUS student group set to launch biggest, most advanced spacecraft with NASA
Friday, 26 July 2024 21:58This August, a student team at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), a part of the University of Alabama System, is set to launch its biggest payload yet into the upper atmosphere from the NASA Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Va. The launch is part of NASA's RockSat Program, an initiative that aims to connect higher education students from across the United States with
Tracking Carbon Dioxide Movement in Earth's Atmosphere
Friday, 26 July 2024 21:58This global map illustrates carbon dioxide concentrations as the gas moved through Earth's atmosphere from January to March 2020, influenced by wind patterns and atmospheric circulation. Due to the model's high resolution, it's possible to zoom in and observe carbon dioxide emissions originating from power plants, fires, and cities, then dispersing across continents and oceans. "As p
Expiring Medications Present Risk for Long-Duration Space Missions
Friday, 26 July 2024 21:58Medications used by astronauts on the International Space Station may not last for the duration of a three-year mission to Mars. A study led by Duke Health found that over half of the medications stocked in space, including pain relievers, antibiotics, allergy medicines, and sleep aids, would expire before astronauts return to Earth. Astronauts could potentially rely on ineffective o
Epson Makes Strategic Investment in Microsatellite Innovator Axelspace
Friday, 26 July 2024 21:58Epson, alongside its subsidiary Epson X Investment Corporation (EXI), has invested in Axelspace Holdings, the parent company of Axelspace Corporation, a pioneering startup in microsatellite development and manufacturing. This investment was facilitated through the EP-GB Investment Limited Partnership fund. Axelspace, with its mission to bring "Space within Your Reach," operates AxelLiner,
NASA Achieves Milestone in 4K Video Streaming from Aircraft to ISS and Back
Friday, 26 July 2024 21:58NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland successfully streamed 4K video from an aircraft to the International Space Station (ISS) and back using laser communications for the first time. This achievement is part of ongoing tests to develop technology for live video coverage of astronauts on the Moon during the Artemis missions. Traditionally, NASA has used radio waves to transmit data to a
Terran Orbital Secures Up to $98 Million via ATM Program
Friday, 26 July 2024 21:58Terran Orbital Corporation (NYSE: LLAP), a global leader in satellite-based solutions for the aerospace and defense industries, has announced an at-the-market (ATM) offering program. This program will enable the Company to sell its common stock in transactions categorized as "at the market" offerings, with a total value not exceeding $98,000,000. However, under the Company's existing debt agreem
Dark Matter Races Ahead in Galaxy Cluster Collision
Friday, 26 July 2024 21:58Astronomers have analyzed a complex collision between two massive galaxy clusters, revealing that the dark matter within these clusters has moved ahead of the normal matter. The clusters, each containing thousands of galaxies and located billions of light-years from Earth, showed distinct separation of their dark matter from the normal matter as they collided. These observations mark the first d
A new insight into Jupiter's shrinking Great Red Spot
Friday, 26 July 2024 21:58Jupiter's Great Red Spot, the largest windstorm in the solar system, is shrinking, and a recent study offers a potential explanation. Situated in Jupiter's southern hemisphere, the Great Red Spot is a massive, red-orange oval of high pressure over 10,000 miles wide. This anticyclone rotates counterclockwise with winds exceeding 200 miles per hour. The Great Red Spot has been diminish